Reduce Baby's Spit Up

When your baby spits up a lot, it can be alarming for new parents. Most spit-up from babies is totally normal. The Hatch breaks down how much spit up is normal, when it’s too much and how to reduce your baby’s spit up.

Normal

According to the Mayo Clinic, half of babies experience an infant form of acid reflux, resulting in spit up, for the first three months of life because a valve between the esophagus and the stomach ensures that the contents of the stomach stay put. If your baby eats too much or too quickly, he may spit up until that valve is fully matured. Keep in mind that babies are very unlikely to choke from excess spit up and probably won’t even realize they are spitting up so much.

Not normal

If your baby has projectile spit up, refuses feedings, isn’t gaining weight or spits up green or yellow liquid, these may be warning signs of a bigger issue. Check with your doctor if your baby experiences any of these symptoms as he may need to prescribe a medication to treat your baby’s severe acid reflux.

There are some things you can try to help reduce the amount of spit up your baby experiences:

Keep baby upright

Try keeping baby more upright when feeding and instead of laying him down after a feeding, keep him in that upright position for about 15 to 30 minutes. Let his food settle before engaging him in active play.

Burp baby

Don’t end a feeding without burping baby to expel any excess fluid that he may spit up later.

Avoid dairy

Many doctors may suggest that breastfeeding mothers temporarily give up dairy products if their babies are experiencing excess spitting up due to acid reflux, as they may have a sensitivity to it. You may find that experimenting with your own diet can help you reduce spit up in your baby.

Back is best

Always lay baby down for nap and bed times on his back. Too much tummy time can lead to more spit up.